No comments about Hindu Deities in Thai Art (Sata-pitaka series).

1 comments about Medieval Images of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (Cistercian Studies Series).

1. The book beautifully reveals Bernard. I would suggest there is no better book, i have painfully read several, on Bernard. I have accumulated much knowledge about the saint and enjoyed it. Splendid book. I loved it. Very little resolution in graphics. I wonder why. Notwithstanding, I still use images on desktop.

1 comments about Descent (New Testament series).

1. This collection has four books (Annunciation, Last Supper, Crucifixion, Descent) which will be a treasure to all those who love great art, and especially those attracted to religious art. Each book is beautifully bound in its own brilliant metallic color: gold, silver, bronze and copper. The unique size and color of the books make this set aesthetically pleasing. It is a wonderful collection to display on any shelf. The prints, more than 100 in each book, are of superb quality. Phaidon, the publisher, is recognized for excellence and elegance in all their printing. There is scant text; each book has a New Testament scriptural preface, then a brief caption accompanies each image.

   As the titles project, a central event in Christ's life is elucidated by the world's best artistic Masters; each brings their own commentary to the selected Christological theme. Most enjoyable, and educational, is the progression through time, starting with early art pieces and finishing with contemporary masters. From beginning to end, each book is a wonderful journey through time.

   "Descent" dramatizes the removal of Christ's corpse from the cross. Hope has ended in despair and the darkest hour now was upon those waiting at the foot of the cross: Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, Mary Magdalene, Mary - mother of Jesus, and John the Beloved. The details of His death begin. The corpse must come down, and along with the dreams of His followers, be buried. No angels, no auras of light, no evidence of divine intervention is found in these 100 plus images. Rather, each artist throughout the ages illuminates the nightmarish reality of the demise of Christ. When you view `Descent' you will notice that there is a period of history, starting around the Renaissance to the end of the 17th Century, when the Masters grasped this moment and prolifically paint the removal of Christ from the cross. Outstanding paintings from the time of Sodoma (c.1505) through Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet (c.1697) fill the largest portion of this book. Having gone through these four volumes it is my hope that Phaidon will continue this collection. To stop now and not give us the burial, resurrection and the ascension would be a great disappointment. This is a collection that I will treasure. The quality of binding, paper, color reproduction and selection of prints is superb. Highly recommended.

3 comments about Goddess: Mother of Living Nature (Art and Imagination Series).

1. An exceptional book, full of ancient examples of our goddess nature.This book is well written, staying true to historical fact, I found it totally absorbing, going back to our most ancient cultures, their wisdom and insightful interpretations of our earth mother, gave me a gift I had been waiting all my life to receive!
   
   For those who wish to again be embraced by their feminine nature, this is a book that I highly recommend. A must read.



2. I am very sad to say I was required to read this book as part of a college course in mythology. I do have an interest in the ancient goddess mythos and had looked forward to learning more. Unfortunately, this book is filled with inaccuracies, half truths, uncited sources and unfounded theories which are presented as facts.
   The author skips around a lot drawing bits from the history and mythology of several cultures during many eras. From this she pieces together an unsupported construct, using only those facts which relate to her theory and ignoring all the rest.
   I would encourage anyone interested in the history of goddess mythology to learn more, just not with this book. It is a sad misrepresentation.



3. As Adele Getty shows in this magnificent volume, the Goddess has played a far greater role in human spirituality than one might suppose at first glance. In her opening essay, Getty discusses the ancient Goddess religions and their spirituality of rebirth and regeneration. She goes on to discuss the "Patriarchal Inversion", but then demonstrates the ongoing presence of the Goddess in ostensibly patriarchal religions - for example, in what she calls "Unbidden Mariology" in the Christian tradition. The essay closes with considerations of what Goddess Religions might contribute to concerns in the modern world. The second part of the book, "Plates", and the third part of the book, "Themes", present a bewildering array of Goddess images from all over the world. One can learn a great deal about the Goddess simply from flipping through these pictures. Overall, this is a very well done synopsis of the Goddess across cultures and across time.

1 comments about Bernini and the Idealization of Death: The Blessed Ludovica Albertoni and the Altieri Chapel.

1. As the only monograph-length study of Bernini's statue of Beata Ludovica Albertoni, this book fills an important gap in Bernini art historiography. It has for this reason also attracted a certain amount of critical attention. While valuable in all kinds of ways (it reproduces sections of several primary sources dealing with the Beata, her life and the attempt to have her canonised), this is a deeply flawed book that suffers because of its reluctance from a unified vision of the statue's symbolism; Perlove reads Bernini's conception as multivalent in a way that most commentators on the 'bel composto' generally do not, and the result is an unsynthesised mish-mash of different points of view. Readers wanting something more coherent is terms of a reading are better off with Careri's 'Bernini: flights of love, the art of devotion'. The photography in this book is of a shocking quality. Most tourists to this sculpture take better pictures of this sculpture than are in this book.

No comments about Tibet: Buddhas, Gods, Saints (African, Asian & Oceanic Art).

No comments about Hagia Sophia: Architecture, Structure, Liturgy of Justinian's Great Church.

No comments about Once upon a Mystery: What Happens Next?.

No comments about Image As Insight: Visual Understanding in Western Christian and Secular Culture.

No comments about The Temple of Devi-Kothi: Wall Paintings and Wooden Reliefs in a Himalayan Shrine of the Great Goddess in the Churah Region of the Chamba District, Himachal Pradesh, India (Artibus Asiae).